FG leader plans drugs and alcohol testing in schools

The Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny plans to introduce random drug and alcohol testing in secondary schools if his party is in power following the general election.

Drug abuse, particularly cocaine use, was "rampant" in some areas, Mr Kenny said. "Drugs are in schools - in some schools - and people who turn a blind eye to this are not living with reality."

Speaking at a conference in Dublin yesterday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Young Fine Gael, Mr Kenny said the Department of Education should support schools that want to introduce drug and alcohol testing .

Parents had told Mr Kenny at public meetings that their children were being accosted on their way to school in the mornings by drug pushers, and he said he believed there would be strong support for the measure in many areas.

His party would not make testing compulsory but would support any school that chose to introduce the scheme with the agreement of parents. Once the school agreed to implement testing, students would be chosen at random by computer for tests.

Mr Kenny said his party was not trying to "find people out" but to direct them towards appropriate services and counselling to wean them off drugs.

The system had worked in Britain and the US, he said, and exam results had improved in schools that had implemented testing.

Mr Kenny also told the conference that inexperienced drivers should be subject to lower blood alcohol limits than other drivers.

"Inexperienced drivers are a higher risk on our roads and studies show that the current legal limit of .8mg makes a driver in the 18-34 age bracket three times more likely to crash than if they have no alcohol at all.

"Essentially I believe that we should immediately introduce a new .2mg level, essentially a zero-alcohol policy, for every provisional licence holder and for those on a full licence for less than two years."

The measure should be applicable to drivers regardless of age, he said. However, he hoped young people would support the measure.

In a concession to younger voters Mr Kenny is proposing to increase the property stamp duty threshold to at least €450,000. When the threshold is passed, stamp duty will only apply to the proportion of the house price that is above the threshold. Astronomical house prices were crippling young people, and driving them deeper into debt, he said.

He also plans to introduce a new type of SSIA saving scheme specifically for first-time buyers, which would involve a government contribution into a bank account that was being used to save for a deposit for a house.

"Home ownership will once again become a realisable aspiration, not a pipe-dream."

Mr Kenny said he was not concerned by the opinion poll in last Saturday's Irish Times, which showed a preference for a Fianna Fáil/PD coalition over a Fine Gael/Labour government.